A musical cryptogram is a cryptogrammatic sequence of musical symbols which can be taken to refer to an extra-musical text by some 'logical' relationship, usually between note names and letters. The most common and best known examples result from composers using musically translated versions of their own or their friends' names (or initials) as themes or motifs in their compositions. These are not really rigorous cipher algorithms in the formal sense, but more like musical monograms. The methods used historically by composers were either too incomplete (i.e., did not include all of the letters of the alphabet) or too simplistic to meaningfully encrypt long text messages. There is a separate history of music ciphers utilizing music notation to encode messages for reasons of espionage or personal security that involved encryption and/or steganography.
Because of the multitudinous ways in which notes and letters can be related, detecting hidden ciphers in music and proving accurate decipherment can be difficult.
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A musicalcryptogram is a cryptogrammatic sequence of musical symbols which can be taken to refer to an extra-musical text by some 'logical' relationship...
A cryptogram is a type of puzzle that consists of a short piece of encrypted text. Generally the cipher used to encrypt the text is simple enough that...
Many musical terms are in Italian because, in Europe, the vast majority of the most important early composers from the Renaissance to the Baroque period...
encryption of a plaintext into musical symbols or sounds. Music-based ciphers are related to, but not the same as musicalcryptograms. The latter were systems...
pictured within", each variation being a musical sketch of one of his circle of close acquaintances (see musicalcryptogram). Those portrayed include Elgar's...
DSCH is a musical motif used by the composer Dmitri Shostakovich to represent himself. It is a musicalcryptogram in the manner of the BACH motif, consisting...
Bach's family name. One of the most frequently occurring examples of a musicalcryptogram, the motif has been used by countless composers, especially after...
Sebastian Bach, whose last name may be represented in tones through a musicalcryptogram known as the BACH motif that is a cruciform melody, employed the device...
that substitutes syllables from solmization for letters, creating a musicalcryptogram. An example of this is the use of the letters ASCH and SCHA Schumann's...
Brahms-Institut Brahms-Preis German Romanticism International Johannes Brahms Competition Musicalcryptogram Three Bs Op. 120, No. 1 (Berio) Category Audio...
compositions for cello solo using his name spelled out in musical notes (musicalcryptogram) as the theme (eS, A, C, H, E, Re). Many of them were performed...
musical idea or recurring figure. Leitmotif – Short, recurring musical figure associated with a particular person, place, or idea. Musicalcryptogram...